Toy vehicle



Nov. 27 1923.

. A. c. GILBERT TOY VEHICLE Filed Aug. 27 1919 Suva/01 W 41,. www

vi', mfr/LUM @Hofman Patented not, a7, was.

ALFRED C. GILBERT, OF NEWYHVEN, CONNEQTIOUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE A; C. GILBERT COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

p TOY VEHICLE.

Application filed yAugust 27, 1919. Serial No. 320,297.' p

'To all whom t concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRnD'C. GILBERT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in thev county of lNew 'Haven and State of Connecticut, have 'invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'Ioy Vehicles, 'of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to means for connecting an axle of a vehicle tothe body portion of the same, and more particularly to resilient means for connecting the axle of a toy vehicle to the body portion of the same.

One object of my invention is to provide a novel spring construction designed to be positioned between the body portion of a vehicle and an axle supporting the same, the spring beingV so constructed that it forms a very satisfactory means for securing the axle to the body portion of the vehicle. while at the same time it reduces the jolts and jars to which the vehicle body is submitted.

Another object of my'invention is to provide simple but satisfactory means Vfor adjustably securing a spring to an axle of a vehicle. y y Y To these and other ends, the invention consists inthe novelqfeatures, and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side view of al childs wheeled toy embodying'my invention, the near rear wheel being removed;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the device shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a detail showing the means for securing a spring to its axle;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, the spring being broken away diagonally; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modification showing a somewhat different means for securing a spring to its axle.`

In the drawing, I have illustrated my in# vention as applied to a childs wheeled toy of the type which comprises a seat or body member designed to be straddled by the child, the rea-r portion of the seat being supported by a pair of spaced rear wheels, 'while the front portion is'. supported by a single wheelfprovided with means vfor vsteering the same.v However, I do 'not'regard my invention as limited lin its application to the type of childs toy shown, since my invention is well adapted to beused upon various types of vehicles for connecting the axles to the body 'of the same.'

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, I have shown a seat or body memn ber designated by the numeral 10-the same being somewhat rectangular in shape, with the forward portion narrower-than the rear portion ofthe seat, in order that a Vchild may conveniently sit on the same with-his legs straddlin'g the forward portion of the seat. This forward portion of the body member 10 is preferably provided with a steering,` post 11, the lower portion of which is Vpreferably larger in diameter than the upper portion V12, whereby a shoulder is formed about midway between the ends of this post, upon which shoulder the lower face of the body member 10 preferably rests. The upper portion 1 2 of this post is preferably rotatably mounted in a circu-j lar hole formed through the forward end of the body member 10, as indicated bythe numeral 13, and in order to prevent the post 11 from moving longitudinally through the body member, a collar or the like 14 is preferably mounted about the, reduced portion 12, with its lower face engaging the collar is secured to the post 12 by a pin, or the like, 15. The lower end of the post 11 is preferably slotted, as at 16, in which slot the supporting wheel 17 is rotatably mounted by the bolt 18. In order that the child riding upon this toy may conveniently turnthe post 11 in order to steer the ve-V These spring members are preferably con.

structe'd out of relatively nat steel strips,

upper face ofthe body member 10, and this and one end of each of these springs is prefera-bly secured to the under face of the seat member' 10 by'bolts 22, the springs being preferably spaced apart a considerable distance, as shown in Fig. 2. The means which I have provided for securing the lower end of each of these springs to the rear axle consist Vof a U-sliaped clip 23 constructed to straddle the spring 21, and having circular holes formed through the spaced legs of this clip through which the axle 2O is inserted, the spring being firmly clamped against the axle20 in any desired position of adjustment by tightening up the set screw 24, the inner end of which abuts against the outer face of the spring. Upon the opposite ends of the axle 20 may be mounted any desired type of wheels 25, these wheels being secured in place upon the axle by cotter pins 26, or by any other preferred securing means.

From the above description, when read in Y connection with the drawing, it will be seen that the springs 21 form a very satisfactory means for connecting the seat or body inember 10 to the vaxle 20, while this seat is supported at the desired height above the supporting axle. It will also be apparent that the flexible springs 21 will, to a very large extent, relieve the seat 10 from the jolts and jars to which it would otherwise be submitted. Furthermore, it will be seen that the lll-shaped clips 23 form a very satisfactory -means for clampingthe lower portion of the springs'21 tov the axle 20.V 1t is also obvious that the clips 23, in addition to clamping the springs 21 to the axle 20, also comprise Vthe means whereby the axle is held against rotation and retained against sidewise movement relatively to said body member 10.

In 5 of the drawing, I have shown a slightly modified construction for securing the lower portion of the springs 21 tothe axle. In this construction, 1 have formed drill holes 27 through the spring 21', these drill holes being positionedr to permit the setscrew 24 to pass through the same when this set screw is tightened up, so that its 'inner end abuts against the axle 20. 1n this construction, the distance between the inner face of the clip 23 and the axle 20 should be substantially the saine as the thickness of the spring'2-1, so that the spring will fit rather snugly between the axle and the inner rear wall of the clip. By providing a number of drill holes in the spring- 21', the same may be secured to the axle 2O in any desired position `of adjustment.

From the above description, it will be appaient that the mechanism herein described for securing an axle to the body portion of a vehicle is well adapted to be used upon various types of vehicles other than the device herein disclosed.

to said body member, comp-rising ra leaf spring rigidly secured to said body member with an end projecting therefrom, and a clamp provided with a set screw for rigidly clamping said spring to said axle.

2. The combination ina childs wheeled toy of the typeprovided Vwith spaced rear wheels and a single steer-able forward wheel, of a rigid body member constructed to form a seat, with an axle for said rear wheels, and a resilient leaf spring having one end secured to the under side o-f said jseat and having its other end adjustably secured Vto said axle to support said seat upon said axle.

3. A childs vehicle, comprising a seat member, a steering post projecting vertically through the front part ofsaid seat member and rotatably connected thereto, said steering post being provided with a ground engaging wheel at its lower end, a rear ground engaging structure comprising an axle and wheels mounted thereon, and a pair of rearwardly and downwardly directed leaf springs rigidly connected at one end with the -seatmember and at the other end to said axle for supporting said seat member resiliently from said axle.Y

4:. A. childs vehicle comprising a .saddle shaped seat member, a steering post passing Sti miv

vertically through'said member and rotatably connected thereto, said steering post having a ground engaging wheel at its lower end, a rear axle having wheels upon the ends thereof, and a pair of rearwardly and downwardly curved leaf springs of the cantalever type secured at one end to the under-sident said seat, and secured at their other ,ends to the axle and supporting said seat directly from said axle in a resilient manner.

V5. A childs vehicle provided with a seat member, a steering post passing vertically through said seat member and rotatably connected thereto, said post having a ground' engaging wheel at its lower' end, a rear axle having a ground wheel at 'each .end thereof,

and means for supporting said seat member from but at a substantial distanceiho-rizontally away from such axle in a resilientmanner, comprising leaf springsk of the cantalever type, each hav-ing one end rigidly secured to said seat member in substan- 

